Ridge's toughness led by example for Flyers

Feb. 15—NORWALK — Love is blind.

In the moment, that statement made more sense. Even when Molly Ridge couldn't see perfectly, she didn't stay out of harm's way.

"I love this sport," Ridge said. "That's just it. I couldn't let ... I felt like I'd be letting my team down by sitting out and not making the effort."

Ridge is the lone senior on the St. Paul girls basketball team. She found herself in a unique situation of not only being the only senior, but one of just three players with varsity experience on a roster that entered the season with just nine healthy players.

Four of those nine players were freshmen with zero experience at the high school level. The results were, as expected, not pretty.

At 2-20 overall entering Thursday's Division IV sectional semifinal vs. Crestline (4-10) at Crestview, the next game may be the final game of Ridge's career.

That is also why when the Flyers were 1-13 and hosting eventual unbeaten Firelands Conference champion Western Reserve (16-5) on Jan. 19, Ridge's love of basketball was sightless.

With just under two minutes left in the half, Ridge went down face-first to the floor on a runner in the lane. She left the game holding a towel over her face — which meant one thing.

"I was very worried because she had been cut open," freshman teammate Morgan Endsley said. "I figured she would be out at least for the rest of the game."

But even with the knowledge a trip to Fisher-Titus Medical Center to get stitched up loomed, Ridge was bandaged up over her right eye and returned to the bench after halftime.

After watching her team get outscored 8-0 in the third quarter, the second-leading scorer in the FC (12.1 points) returned late in the quarter. She then kept St. Paul's upset hopes alive in the fourth.

Despite the headache and bandage, Ridge scored 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Flyers trailed by just four points entering the final minutes. She finished the 46-34 loss with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

After the defeat, she checked in at FTMC and got four stitches to close the wound. But the laceration wasn't just a "battle scar" to be seen cosmetically. In a season when it could be viewed there wasn't much incentive to return, Ridge did so in an impactful way.

"Molly is a great player and we knew that coming in," Western Reserve head coach Carlie Ashley said. "She was the main player we were trying to shut down. But she got injured, came back, and was still scoring. She showed the type of player she is tonight."

Early days

When Ridge was a freshman, St. Paul went 21-4 (12-2 FC) and reached a district semifinal.

She worked her way into the lineup as a sophomore for another a team that finished 18-5 (13-1 FC), shared the conference championship with Crestview, and again advanced to the district semifinal round.

On those teams, Ridge simply filled in behind three first-team FC players, Danielle Smith, Camille Endsley and Maddy McCall. Morgan Baxter, a four-year player, was second team FC.

Last season, the Flyers went 11-12 and were anchored by McCall — one of seven seniors — averaging nearly a double-double.

By then, it was known Ridge was going to be the lone senior, and one of just three players along with Megan Lesch and Kristin Matlack, with any type of varsity experience.

It's also why head coach Vicky Mahl doesn't necessarily have a good "story" to share on Ridge. Instead, she has an image.

"There have been times throughout the years when we filmed kids shooting, and then show them their form," Mahl said. "We used to do it on an iPad that we used to use to film games."

About a month into the season, Mahl was going through old footage and found Ridge from the 2019-20 season.

"We found video of her as a freshman with her glasses on, looking like she was 12 years old at most," Mahl said. "To see her come from that to where she is now, just being the leader that she is and having a basketball mind who can pick things up quickly ... she's just a very good kid.

"That picture sticks with me in my head ... Molly with her glasses on looking so tiny. It says a lot that she stuck with it. This has not been the easiest year for her or anyone else, but she's earned everything she got."

Creating a keepsake

At 0-11 and halfway through the season, Ridge and the Flyers were running out of time.

Prior to a Jan. 5 home game vs. Monroeville, St. Paul had lost those games by an average of 26.8 points per contest. That included five defeats by 32-plus points.

Facing the rival Eagles at home for a final time, Ridge and the Flyers immediately trailed 7-0 less than 90 seconds into the game. But a scoring surge over the second and third quarters saw them open up a 27-21 lead.

Then Ridge got her moment. The rotation player who was part of a program that won 50 games, a league title and two sectional titles over the past three seasons delivered the knockout blows.

After making her second 3-pointer for a 30-21 lead, Ridge was able to get a steal in the Monroeville backcourt — then pulled up from the left wing and drilled another triple for a 33-21 lead just six seconds later.

She scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the 42-32 win.

The Flyers won just once more the rest of the regular season. But they also had three single-digit losses by a combined 11 points, and were competitive in the fourth quarter of three other defeats.

"She's been a good leader all season," Mahl said of Ridge. "When you talk to her, she will tell you her job is for her to make the young kids better, and to do her job.

"She wasn't exactly feeling the best at the beginning of that Monroeville game, but she put that aside and kept the team where they needed to be."

Finishing up

As an opposing coach twice a year, Eric Mitchell can relate better than anyone.

The longtime New London head coach went through a 2021-22 season that produced a 1-22 record. It had not been pretty in the recent seasons leading up to a year ago, either.

So when Mitchell saw Ridge play this season, he had a different viewpoint than most.

"I feel for those kids who you want to give the accolades they deserve, but you don't get it in those situations," Mitchell said. "I understand the frustration Vicky went through this year, because I've been there a couple times.

"But you have to find a little light in the darkness, and Molly Ridge was definitely that for St. Paul this year."

Knowing what the outlook was, there was no hiding the extra weight Ridge put on herself.

"I feel the pressure with playing the best I can every day," she said following her final home game on Feb. 7. "I'm just trying to bring them along to build the program back up. It was an emotional night for sure, but I've always understood my role this season."

As one of the four freshmen getting extensive minutes this season, Endsley agreed.

"Molly has been an amazing leader who has pushed me to be a better player," she said. "To have Molly as a teammate means she will always help you and have your back."

Even still, Endsley and others point back to the injury against Western Reserve.

"When she came back out, I felt relief," Endsley said. "But I was a little shocked she could come out and play the game she did while having that injury."

Mitchell had finished up a home win over Mapleton when he checked his phone and went hunting for a Western Reserve score on Jan. 19. At first surprised by the score, the coach then found out the story.

"Just a flat-out gamer to play through that," he said. ""When you think about the way society is and how bad their season was going, she could have easily bowed out there — and I really don't think anyone would have questioned or said a thing.

"Instead it was, 'tape me up, I'm back.' She goes out there and almost wills her team to what would have been the biggest upset of the season. Molly is someone you'd love to have on your team."

In a way, the blood is what did it for Ridge. As her career comes to a close in a tough season, feeling the string and drops of blood from above her eye was motivation to finish strong.

"When it happened, honestly, I was just scared there was going to be a goose egg," Ridge said. "When I saw the blood, that lit a fire in a way. If I could continue to play, I wanted to do what I could.

"If Coach Mahl wanted to sit me out, that was going to be fine, too. But I wanted to be ready."

Ridge does contend one point, however. The stitched up cut didn't feel like "battle scars" — then or now — in a tough season.

"No, that really hurt," she joked.